- FROM P1
Hunter New England Health public health physician Dr David Durrheim said six of the 12 new local cases were in home isolation.
Two were in hospital.
Information about the four additional cases was not available. Dr Durrheim said the majority of the region's confirmed cases had come from exposure to the virus overseas, or close contact with known COVID-19 cases.
"But there are a few where the source of infection has not been able to be determined. This means there could be some low level spread in the community," Dr Durrheim said.
"Now is the time to really social distance. Step back. No touch. Wash your hands. Don't go out with a cold, a fever or a cough."
Among the new cases in Hunter New England are a female in her 20s, a woman in her 50s, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 70s.
A female in her 60s is receiving care at John Hunter Hospital after being in contact with a confirmed case in Sydney.
And a male in his 20s - a close contact of a confirmed case - is currently in home isolation.
A female in her 70s is in home isolation after returning from Vietnam and Cambodia, and a female in her late teens has been confirmed with COVID-19 after returning from Europe.
Meanwhile, a Hunter family has described life in isolation after both parents tested positive for COVID-19.
Jonathan (last name withheld) and his wife were two of the first confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Hunter after attending a wedding a fortnight ago.
"We started to hear a few days after that there was possible cases of COVID from the wedding," Jonathan says in a Hunter New England Health video. "At that stage it was a bit of hearsay.
"When we started to hear through official routes there were confirmed cases from the wedding, that - combined with the fact we had some mild cold symptoms - we decided to get tested.
"We have been isolated from the time we knew we were at risk of having it."
He said the public health team had been very thorough in contacting anyone they had been in contact with that was deemed to be at risk.
